[Finger Crafting Notes]
[Notes left behind by ???]
[Records the techniques for crafting fingers]
[The Twin Fingers and the fingers themselves are not native lifeforms of the Lands Between, but beings incubated from the primordial fallen star, created to fulfill a mission]
[Thus, they cannot be produced or modified through conventional means]
[System Unlocked: "Special Crafting"]
Seeing the prompt appear before him, Lloyd opened the system interface. After checking the item and scrolling through the menus, he roughly understood what it meant.
In short, as more strange beings gathered around him, ordinary Crucible Fragments could no longer meet his crafting needs.
Fortunately, thanks to his recent experiences in the dungeon, he had regained some clarity—and, with help from Alice and the others, recovered part of the power of the Primordial Flame. Among those powers was the ability to "Create Life."
From there, the process was simple.
With Metyr's help, Alice localized Lloyd's Creation Handle Authority. During this, she also invoked the deep darkness behind her pupils, allowing part of that darkness to merge with his Handle Authority.
Then it all came together—the Crucible Fragments, the cursed doll, the Finger Crafting Notes, and the shared power of the Deep Darkness Handle Authority.
Everything merged into that small flame. As it flickered, it became fuel, burning brighter and gaining a strange new hue.
Or, put in game terms—it unlocked more crafting options, enabling him to create nearly any being, including the Fingers themselves.
Faced with this newfound power, Lloyd's reaction was...
"Someone's trying to slack off, though I won't say which Alice."
Alice gave him a sideways glance.
"And someone slept half the day, finally woke up, and still doesn't want to work. I won't say who either."
After their brief teasing, Lloyd stored his new acquisition and turned toward the Mother of Fingers.
For some reason, ever since he had obtained the Finger Crafting Notes, Metyr had been acting oddly. She lowered her finger, poking her hands together in front of her, looking almost... shy?
And to be fair, she had good reason to be.
The place Lloyd had just reached into—though it appeared like a mass of torn, twisted flesh—had a proper name: the "Finger Incubation Chamber." It was also... where baby fingers were born.
Although not quite the same as human anatomy, because of its connection to her mission, that part of her body was still a sensitive area for Metyr.
More importantly, when Lloyd reached inside, he had taken away her most precious thing—her "mission."
Though his inventory labeled it as Crafting Notes, the item was actually what the entity that sent her here had originally granted her.
In addition to the crafting data, it also carried the mission that had been bestowed upon her.
Now, after hearing Alice's explanation and looking at the twisted mass of fingers before him, Lloyd's expression turned increasingly complicated.
Wait—didn't that mean he had just...
Shaking off that thought, he turned to Alice to discuss what should be done with Metyr next.
He did this because Alice had called Metyr a "child," and from their interaction, it was clear they knew each other. She likely had some affection for Metyr—and would know best how to handle her.
But...
"I don't care."
"Do as you please."
Unexpectedly, though she had sought them out herself, Alice seemed indifferent toward Metyr—her attitude almost cold.
Hearing her words, Metyr lowered her finger even further, her dejection visible to the naked eye.
She believed Alice treated her this way because she was damaged and had failed her mission, and was therefore being abandoned. That belief was common among those who knew of Metyr's existence.
Lloyd had thought the same at first. But seeing Metyr's crestfallen state suddenly reminded him of something.
"I don't know what to do..."
"A mother abandons her child. A mother doesn't love us."
"Then what happens to the child? Do they stay sad forever?"
At that time, Moore—clad head to toe in heavy armor—had crouched down, muttering those words in sorrow.
Alice, who happened to pass by and overheard him, had paused for a brief moment.
Abandoning a child, not loving them—it sounded cruel, and it was. But there was a catch.
The truth was, Moore was an adult—just a bit slow-minded.
And Metyr, according to Alice, was also old enough to be "a qualified mother" herself.
A mother abandoning her child is indeed heartless—but if the "child" being sent away is an adult, given a pet guardian for protection, and told only to find a job and learn to live independently... then perhaps it isn't abandonment after all.
And it wasn't just Metyr.
"When a child is young and ignorant, a mother has the duty to guide them. But once they've grown, too much control only becomes chains and shackles."
"Give them the necessary tools and knowledge, set a simple goal, and once their foundation is stable, let them explore on their own. At first it'll be hard, and the sandcastle fortresses they build will look clumsy and childish."
"But if they keep going, one day, when those children mature—when the mud walls become stone, and stone turns to steel—they'll find their own way forward. They won't remain identical copies under the same mother's rule."
"The same goes for children, for civilization, and even for the stars beyond."
"God loves the world—but not any single person."
Lloyd looked at Alice, his voice calm.
"Would you agree, my dear Miss Greater Will?"
There was a brief silence.
Then Alice lifted her head, meeting his gaze directly.
"Or," she said seriously, "could it simply be that I just couldn't be bothered?"
After all, the entire Lands Between—and even the cosmos beyond—were born from the explosion of that vast black void, the scattering of stardust. In that sense, all were children of the Greater Will.
So...
"Even the Greater Will can't possibly look after that many 'children'. Especially when some of them are so fond of causing trouble."
As if recalling certain memories, Alice—or rather, the immense void behind her eyes—sighed wearily, then turned to Lloyd.
"And you should understand that better than anyone, shouldn't you? As the Flame of the World, can you really control every single person—make them obey your every command?"
"I can."
Lloyd answered without hesitation.
"Textpe? For real…"
The void froze mid-sentence, staring at him.
"Wait—what did you just say?"
"I said I can."
Lloyd's tone remained steady.
"To be precise, not just every person—but every timeline, every sentient being. I've seen them all, spoken to them all... and I believe they'd all listen to me."
Lloyd wasn't lying.
Back then, in his attempt to preserve the world, he truly had gone through every timeline, every conscious existence. He had tried everything—every possible method—and only after confirming that none worked had he chosen the final outcome.
So yes, he really could be precise down to every single being.
"You're…"
After hearing Lloyd's explanation, Alice found him... a little abstract.
She'd never met another being quite like him, but however she looked at it, his behavior was on a whole other level.
"That said, over on our side, the number of living beings and worlds is much smaller, so the workload isn't as heavy as yours. I can understand why things are difficult for you…"
But Alice didn't respond to Lloyd's added clarification. Once he finished, she simply fell silent, lost in thought.
Wait a second... if he's that good at this…
"Are you thinking about something strange again?"
Lloyd immediately sensed something off, his gaze sharpening in suspicion.
"I want you to handle matters like this for me from now on."
Alice stated it plainly.
"In return, I'll take care of the tasks you're not suited for."
A short silence followed.
"Well then."
Lloyd looked at Alice with a straight face.
"I think letting the kids run free on their own works just fine."
Ignoring his sarcasm, Alice moved on.
"Let's leave that aside for now. What about Metyr? What do you plan to do with her?"
At the mention of Metyr, Lloyd glanced at the dejected figure nearby. He walked over to check her condition.
It wasn't good.
As mentioned before, Metyr was a damaged—nearly destroyed—existence. Though she still possessed immense strength and could hatch small Fingers from her abdomen, her continued motion wasn't due to vitality, but because she was barely running on the strange equilibrium between countless bugs—just like the Lands Between itself.
Even Alice would have to spend great effort to repair her, and even then, she couldn't guarantee success.
But after thinking for a while, Lloyd found another solution.
"If it can't be fixed, then don't fix it."
"Just restart it."
As before, since he'd unlocked the ability to craft Fingers, Lloyd decided to treat Metyr much like he had Ranni. He'd first end her life, extract her soul while it was still intact, and then place it into a new body.
Though Metyr's soul and mind were both unstable, that didn't matter. As an Ashen One who had regained part of his strength, Lloyd had experience reshaping souls and spirits through physical reconstruction. He was confident he could make it work.
The remaining question was Metyr herself—or rather, the will of the Finger.
"That's the situation. What do you want to do?"
At Lloyd's question, Metyr's fingertip flickered faintly before she gave a small nod.
And then...
A new Metyr appeared.
Yes—a pool of her, not a person.
Although Lloyd now had the Finger design blueprint and could have created a proper new Mother of Fingers, there were complications. Metyr's incomplete soul couldn't handle a full body, and while Lloyd didn't dislike the aesthetic of her finger-based form—maybe even found it somewhat artistic—his preferences leaned toward human shapes. Besides, a humanoid body would make daily life in the Lands Between much easier.
So, for both reasons, after getting Metyr's consent, Lloyd decided to create a new, humanlike body that retained her original essence. And the result was…
A pool of Metyr.
More precisely, a grotesque mass of fused feminine limbs—arms and legs twisting, writhing, and coiling around one another like a living sculpture.
But this wasn't a mistake. Lloyd had done it deliberately, tailoring the new form to match the control system of her original, finger-entangled body.
And, as it turned out, the design suited her perfectly.
If she had been given a standard bipedal body, Metyr would have struggled to even stand.
Now, though the result looked uncanny and unsettling, it moved with the same ease as her old form—wriggling, crawling, coiling—she adapted quickly and soon regained her basic mobility.
After reconstructing her, Lloyd decided that the Finger ruins below weren't a suitable home for Metyr. After some thought, he simply relocated her to his castle.
Naturally, the castle's residents were curious about the strange newcomer, but...
"This child's a bit of a shut-in. She's got social anxiety, so don't scare her."
As a mama's girl and reclusive coder who'd locked herself away in the Lands Between, Metyr wasn't exactly skilled at socializing. Otherwise, she wouldn't have misunderstood Marika's intentions so badly in the first place.
After some consideration, Lloyd gave her the same arrangement as Midir—he locked her in the dungeon.
Whether it was her introverted comfort with dark corners or simply an alien preference, Metyr didn't mind the dungeon at all—in fact, she seemed rather pleased with it. She settled in quietly, content to stay there.
After arranging everything for Metyr, Lloyd teleported to the academy to deepen his covenant with Renna.
Afterward, as Renna lay limp in his arms, she caught a whiff of something unfamiliar and blinked.
"Did you go off and charm another girl?"
"I didn't charm anyone."
Lloyd gave her a squeeze and replied,
"Besides, she's not some young girl—she's already got a bunch of kids…"
Renna froze.
Not a young girl. A bunch of kids...
"You finally went after Marika?"
"What are you thinking?"
Lloyd flicked her forehead. Though she winced, she seemed relieved it wasn't Marika.
Alright, as long as it wasn't the goddess—if it was someone else, even a married woman, that wasn't a big deal in the Lands Between...
"It's Metyr. The Mother of Fingers."
"Oh, the Mother of Fingers, right. I thought you sai—"
Renna stopped mid-sentence, her expression freezing.
"Wait. Who did you just say?!"